WB CM Mamata Lashes Out At Centre For Slow GDP Growth

Kolkata: Lashing out at the Centre for the decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday stated that her apprehensions about demonetisation have proved to be correct.

“When the time demonetisation was announced by the Central Government, I had voiced my concern that the country would have to face severe loss of jobs and drastic decline in productivity due to demonetisation. My apprehension is now proven to be true,” Mamata wrote on her Facebook post.

Further slamming out at the Centre, the Chief Minister asserted that rampant job loss has been reported across the country with the agriculture and unorganised sector in worst shape.

“The Q4 GDP figure this fiscal has come down to 6.1%. The corresponding GDP figure in the previous fiscal was 7.9%. So, the decline is nearly 2 per cent point. Rampant job loss has been reported across the country with the agriculture and unorganised sector in worst shape,” Banerjee wrote.

According to statistic, the GDP slowed sharply to 6.1 percent in the three months ending March 31. The GDP was 6.1 per in the January-March quarter, the immediate three months after the demonetisation was announced on November 8, 2016.

The data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) revealed that the Gross Value Added (GVA) slipped sharply to 6.6 per cent in the last financial year ended March 31, from 7.9 per cent growth in 2015-16.

The demonetisation seems to have impacted the Gross value added (GVA) in the third as well as fourth quarter of 2016-17 which slipped to 6.7 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, from 7.3 per cent and 8.7 per cent. Almost all sectors, with the exception of agriculture, showed deceleration in the aftermath of demonetisation.